‘IN IT TOGETHER’ ?

Billionaires are partying hard as the US election looms ever closer. The single day record for positive testing in America was broken on November 29th as  88,452 new Corona-19 cases were reported, with spikes in every swing state.

The inconvenience of Covid lockdowns and closure of national borders has forced the privileged few to become inventive to minimise interruption to their excessive lifestyle.  With recreational events cancelled and favoured nightclubs closed in the capitals of the world, they are using their not inconsiderable resources to re-imagine leisure space. Pool houses and out houses are being converted and refitted with tennis courts dug up to create private underground nightclubs. Many of these invitation-only live events, exclusively for the wealthy, can accommodate several hundred people. It is difficult to imagine that social distancing and masks would be a priority.

Billionaires are flying entertainers and guests in to provide personal concerts aboard super yachts equipped with heli pad, state-of-the-art sound system, DJ equipment and smoke machines. The less fortunate who do not own a yacht can charter a substantial one from $300,000 to $400,000 a week. Owners are resorting to extended sailing periods to escape lockdown inconvenience at a cost of $2 million or more. For those owning lavish properties and gated estates who may prefer a more intimate gathering, artists can be booked to perform live from their own base, with  direct online streaming of concerts to the client. A price tag of over a million dollars can include a personalised message from the star during the brief encounter.

Spending is normally a spectator sport for the elite, allowing the privileged an opportunity to flaunt their excesses; self indulgence during a global pandemic demands a degree of sensitivity however and is currently hidden behind closed doors in nightclubs or offshore on yachts and islands.

IN THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, 40 MILLION AMERICANS BECAME UNEMPLOYED WHILE BILLIONAIRES SAW THEIR WEALTH RISE.

  • Between March and June 2020, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos’ wealth increased by an estimated $73.2 billion.
  • Teslo Founder Elon Musk saw a 273% increase in personal wealth by $67.4 billion.

The total net worth of 643 of the nation’s richest people rose from $2.95 trillion to $3.8 trillion between March 18th and September 15th 2020 as Covid-19 killed 195,386 Americans.  Furloughed workers and the unemployed continue to await a decision by Congress to enable them to feed their families and pay their rent as the nation sinks into the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

THERE IS AN OMINOUS SENSE OF DEJA VU

 In 2007, home prices fell 21% and roughly 3.1 million homes were foreclosed on in the US when the housing bubble burst. The stock market dropped by over 50%.  In 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act was signed into law, creating a $700 billion programme to purchase devalued assets from banks. President Obama directed $75 billion in funds to help reduce interest payments for homeowners.  Homeowners received $75 billion while banks and corporations received $700 billion.

By the end of 2009, 8.8 million Americans had lost their jobs while the world’s wealthiest individuals had recouped nearly all of their losses in a single year, increasing their share of global wealth by 19% to $39 trillion. The top 1% of the population captured 95% of the income gains made from 2009 to 2012. By 2020, the combined wealth of the billionaire class in the United States had increased by over 80%.

TAX LAWS AND LOOP HOLES WHICH FAVOUR THE WEALTHY CONTINUE TO SECURE THE POSITION OF BILLIONAIRES. TAXES PAID BY THEM HAVE DECREASED BY 79% SINCE 1980.

Tax rules allowed Amazon to pay zero dollars in taxes for two successive years, then paying only 1.2% of the company’s income in 2019. A study in 2012 found that as much as $32 trillion was being held offshore by the world’s wealthiest people using shell corporations to hide their income. An estimated $200 billion is lost in the US annually in tax revenues to offshore havens.

With the onslaught of the Covid pandemic in 2019 $349 billion was made available to small businesses under the Paycheck Protection Programme. But as in 2008, $243 million of this was snapped up by large, publicly traded corporations, some valued at over $100 million. Hedge funds also submitted claims to access what they saw as free money. Five days after Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic the Dow experienced the biggest fall in its history. True to form the Fed lowered interest rates and the Stock Market rebounded. By June 4th seven of the richest people in the world saw a 50% increase in their fortunes, making America great again for the lucky few in a system designed to favour the rich.